FORWARD PLAN INTRODUCTION
1.1	The law requires the Executive of a Local Authority to publish in advance, a programme of its work in the coming four months, including information about key decisions which it expects to make.  It is updated monthly.  To view the current Forward Plan please click here.
1.2	The Executive means the Mayor and those Councillors the Mayor has appointed to the Executive. You can find out who the Mayor is and which Councillors are Members of Bedford Borough Council's Executive by clicking here.
2.	WHAT ARE KEY DECISIONS?
	Bedford Borough Council has defined key decisions as those which are:-
	(a)	identified within its key financial decisions framework; and/or
	(b)	likely to have a significant impact on communities living in one or more Wards within the Borough.
3.	WHO CAN TAKE KEY AND OTHER EXECUTIVE DECISIONS?
	Key and other Executive decisions may be made by the Mayor, the Executive as a whole or individual Officers under delegated powers.  Apart from the Mayor, no other Members of the Executive currently has any powers to take decisions individually.
	Details of Officers' decision making powers are set out in Part 14 of the Councils Constitution which you can view by clicking here*.
4.	FORMAT OF THE FORWARD PLAN
	The law requires that the Forward Plan includes the following information so far as it is known at the time at which the Plan is prepared:-
	(a)	the matter in respect of which the decision is to be made;
	(b)	where the decision maker is an individual his name, his title if any and, where the decision maker is a decision making body, its name and a list of its Members;
	(c)	the date on which, or the period within which, the decision is to be made;
	(d)	the identity of the principal groups or organisations whom the decision maker proposes to consult before making the decision;
	(e)	the means by which any such consultation is proposed to be undertaken;
	(f)	the steps that may be taken by any person who wishes to make representations to the Local Authority Executive or to the decision maker about the matter in respect of which the decision is to be made, and the date by which those steps are to be taken; and
	(g)	a list of the documents, submitted to the decision maker for consideration in relation to the matter in respect of which the decision is to be made.
	The Councillors Plan has been prepared in the form of a table, the structure of which reflects the above requirements.  You can find out more information about individual items within the Plan by telephoning, e-mailing or writing to the contact Officer whose name is listed in the final column of the Plan.  Clicking on their e-mail address will enable you to e-mail them direct.  If you wish to write to them, the Council's postal address is Bedford Borough Council, Town Hall, Bedford MK40 1SJ
5.	PUBLICATION OF FUTURE FORWARD PLANS
	The Forward Plan must be updated monthly and published at least 14 days before the period to which it relates.

6.	DECISIONS MADE IN PRIVATE
	Most key decisions to be taken by the Executive collectively will be made in public on a specified date A small number of key decisions for reasons of commercial or personal confidentiality will be made in private and the public will be excluded from any sessions while such decisions are made.  Notice will still be given about the intention to make such decisions but wherever possible the Forward Plan will show that the decision is likely to be taken by the Executive in private session.  Reports on such matters will not be available to the public. Some Executive meetings will include decisions to be made in public and decisions to be made in private.  In such cases the public decisions will be made at the beginning of the meeting to minimize inconvenience to those members of the public and the press attending the meeting.
7.	URGENT DECISIONS
	Although every effort will be made to include all key decisions in the Forward Plan, it is inevitable for a range of reasons that some decisions will need to be taken at short notice and that it will not be possible to include these in the Forward Plan.  In such cases a minimum of 5 days public notice will be given before the decision is taken. In rare cases it may be necessary to take a key decision without being able to give five days notice.  The Executive is only able to do this with the agreement of the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee or the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the Council.  (The Scrutiny Committee has the role of scrutinising the work of the Executive)
8.	PUBLICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EXECUTIVE DECISIONS
	All decisions which have been notified in the Forward Plan and any other key decisions made by the Executive will be recorded and  published within two days of the decision being taken. The Councils Constitution provides that key decisions will not be implemented until a period of seven working days has elapsed after the decision has been published.  This allows for Members of the Council to call in a decision of the Executive to consider whether it should be reviewed before it is implemented.  Details of the Councils call in procedure can be viewed by clicking here*.
9.	TIMETABLE OF KEY DECISIONS
	The timetable for decisions as expected at the time of preparation of the Forward Plan is shown in column 4 of the Plan.  Confirmation of the timing in respect of individual decisions can be obtained from the relevant Contact Officer.  Agendas for the reports to meetings of the Executive will be available for inspection at the Town Hall five days before the relevant meeting.